State school board member AJ Wagner.JPG
State school board member A.J. Wagner worries that too few students will be rated high enough on new state math tests to graduate on time.
(Patrick O'Donnell/The Plain Dealer)
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Scores on two of Ohio's new high school math tests from this spring have come in so much lower than expected that the state school board will likely adjust how they affect graduation requirements later this month.
The adjustments won't be enough for board member A.J. Wagner, who is raising alarms that many students will still be at risk of not being able to graduate.
Preliminary test scores on Ohio's new Geometry and Integrated Math II exams from the American Institutes of Research show that the tests were such a mismatch with student ability that fewer than one out of every four students that took them met state benchmarks.
The state had predicted that 59 percent of high schoolers would score as "Proficient" or above on the Geometry exam, but only 24 percent did.
Similarly, 56 percent were projected to score as "Proficient" or above on the Integrated Math II exam and only 21 percent did.
Calling the lower results "outliers" that need attention, the Ohio Department of Education is asking the state school board to adjust the scores that students need to earn to fall into Ohio's five ratings categories - Limited, Basic, Proficient, Accelerated and Advanced.
The proposal would increase the percentage of students placed in the higher rating categories on the two tests, so that 52 percent of students would be rated Proficient or above on the Geometry test and 35 percent Proficient or above on Integrated Math II.
"We're changing the cut score on these two tests to bring them in line with the others," said school board President Tom Gunlock. "We had to make the adjustments based on results."
The board will vote on the change at its next meeting June 13 and 14.
See below for the scores the state projected in January for all new math and English tests, as well as more detail on how the proposed change will affect how many kids fall into each rating category.
The preliminary scores and proposed changes drew immediate complaints from board member Wagner, a Dayton Democrat, who has worried for months that passage rates on these new tests could cripple chances for some students to graduate.
Ohio has a few paths students can take to qualify for graduation, but the main pathway calls for them to earn "points" toward graduation based on their ratings on state tests - one point if Limited, two for Basic, three for Proficient, four for Accelerated and five for Advanced.
High school students need 18 points to graduate. With seven math, English and social studies tests required, they have the opportunity to earn as many as 35. That means that students don't have to score as proficient on every test to graduate.
These new rules took effect for freshmen starting high school in 2014-15.
But Wagner says that system is unfair. If only 52 percent count as Proficient and earn three points, almost half of students will earn two or less, placing them behind schedule to graduate.
Setting scores so that only 35 percent are proficient or above, as proposed for Integrated Math II, will have two thirds of students behind schedule, Wagner said.
"We are headed for a train wreck!" Wagner wrote on his Facebook page. "These scores and the arbitrary standards being set for rigor put as many as two-thirds of our students in jeopardy for graduation! That'll show the world how tough we are! That'll motivate them to try harder as we keep moving the bar!"
Wagner disagrees with Gunlock and ODE officials over whether the proposed adjustments make graduation easier for students or harder. Wagner says the proposed targets are still harder than what the board expected from projections in January, while Gunlock and ODE note that the adjustments make the targets easier than if they made no change now.
Wagner said that setting tough requirements on the tests will especially hurt poor and urban areas.
"This is class warfare," Wagner said. "These guys are setting us up so only the rich are gong to make it through high school now."